


We've got you

by epersonae



Series: Aftermath [6]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Angus is Baby!Magcretia, Carey is the best, Cooking as a Metaphor, F/M, Family, Found Family, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-18
Updated: 2017-10-18
Packaged: 2019-01-19 02:01:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12400815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/epersonae/pseuds/epersonae
Summary: Magnus and Angus both worry too much. Carey is a great wingman. And a fine day is had by all.





	We've got you

**Author's Note:**

> This started with a prompt from tumblr: "Don't worry, I've got you" for anyone and Angus and has been marinating in my head for maybe two months? Huge thanks to @hops for helping me think this through as it grew from a few fragments.  
> Part of my Aftermath continuity, where Angus is Lucretia and Magnus’s kid. Specifically, takes places before [Moments that words don’t reach](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11695707) (past tense) and at the end of [Rustic Hospitality](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11766735) (present tense).

He’s on a train alone, for the first time in a while, and he thinks: this used to be my life, being a little boy riding trains. And it seems like a long time ago. When you’re twelve, ten seems like a thousand years ago instead of two.

Trains run to Raven’s Roost now. He was a very little boy when the rebellion against Governor Kalen happened and then the Roost was destroyed, so he doesn’t know what it was like before. Only what it is now, which is the place where Magnus lives, the place where he’s going for a school break.

He looks out the window at the unfamiliar scenery and chews on his cheek. In his head, he practices saying, “Hi, Dad” even though he’s pretty sure what will come out is more like “Hello, mister Magnus sir.”

* * *

 

“Is it weird that I’m nervous about Ango staying with me on his break?”

Carey sat up on a countertop, juggling a couple of screwdrivers while Magnus ran a plane across the top of a dresser.

“Not that weird, spaceman. You ain’t talked with him about you and the boss and him, all that, since the wedding, right?”

“Nope. Didn’t seem like a good long-distance chat.”

“But he knows?”

“I guess? I mean, I’m pretty sure?”

“You want a wingman tomorrow? I'm gonna be around, so I could meet you guys at the station….”

He nodded slowly.

“Yeah. Yeah, cool. That would be cool.” He set down the plane and ran his hand over the smooth wood surface.

“Oh wait — what time is it?”

“Dunno. 4 o’clock? Why?”

He reached up to his hair and started brushing curls of wood shavings out.

“I gotta get the house — I gotta get cleaned up — shit, I haven't even started —”

He bustled around her, putting tools away; she jumped down from the counter and tossed him the screwdrivers she'd been juggling. He dropped two.

“Whoa bud, slow down. Kid's not here til tomorrow.”

When he stood from picking up the screwdrivers, his face and neck were flushed.

“It's not that….” He trailed off.

She raised a scaly brow.

“Okaaaaay….” She looked at him again, and a little smirk played across her mouth. “Gettin’ a little drop-in visit from the glass ball express?” He rubbed his hand across his face.  “Oh, wow, yup. Visit from the boss. Or should I say your ex-girlfriend…?”

“We've been talking about having dinner for a while….”

“Nice.”

“It's not… Like that?”

“Magnus, buddy, I'm not them. You ain't gotta pretend shit with me. Me and Kil, well, boss saved our lives, got us together, saved the fucking world. If you wanna get some, well….” She chuckled, as if there were some joke that he didn't know about. “I'd tap that.”

Magnus rolled his eyes.

“Just help me move this?”

* * *

 

Angus looks up and down the platform when he gets off the train at the edge of Raven’s Roost. No Magnus. He sighs and sits down on his bag. He’s trying not to be disappointed, but it’s hard. He’s spent more time being on his own than not, and it’s hard watching other people meet their friends and families while he’s sitting by himself.

But before he can get swallowed up by those anxious thoughts, Carey strolls up, whistling, her hands in her pockets. She stops short and looks at him quizzically.

“Yo, kiddo, where's Magnus?”

Angus shrugs and stands.

“Huh. Well, uh, I guess, um, I'm taking you there? Let's do it.”

“Thanks Miss Carey, ma’am, I mean, is it Mrs Carey now?”

“It's just Carey, bud.”

She moves like she's going to ruffle his hair but then thinks better of it. He’d never tell her so, but he appreciates it. He always notices when people treat him like a little kid or not. She grabs his bag and they start towards the bridges that cross the chasm into the Roost. The town is still rebuilding, and though it’s not his first visit, he slows his pace to watch all the construction and people busy about their work.

“Is he ok, ma’am?”

“Oh yeah, for sure. I guess he just…? Dunno? Overslept?”

He frowns, looking sidelong at her, and she’s got a bit of a frown too. Not worried, but thinking. And then she starts laughing, snickering, her hand in front of her mouth. She looks at him for a half a second, and then for some reason she can’t look at him.

“Sorry, Ango. It’s….” — Carey smirks and looks off away again — “...he’s cool, he deffo overslept.” She pauses, stops walking, and looks at him, the forked tip of her tongue just barely sticking out, obviously trying not to smile. “How ‘bout we go get some pastries before we drop you with Magnus?”

He raises an eyebrow looking at her.

“I don’t know, ma’am, isn’t that bag very heavy?”

“Not _that_ heavy, it’s cool.” She shifts the bag in her hand and starts walking again, this time veering off towards a bakery just a bit out of their way.

* * *

 

“Help me figure out what to wear?” She had followed him up the stairs, and he flung open a wardrobe which was probably 85% flannel.

“Bud, do you even want my help? I have no idea what’s good on, like, human dudes, let alone the boss’s tastes.”

“I gotta ask _somebody_.”

“And your fashion-forward buddy…?”

“Would Magic Missle me into next week, probably.”

She wrinkles her nose and makes a slightly irritated noise.

“I mean, I don’t know about boss lady, but I looooove Killian in shirts like that,” she said as she took out a red and black plaid flannel. He took it out and frowned before stripping off his clothes.

“Dude, bud, seriously, what are you doing?” She dramatically turned her head and covered her eyes.

“Oh, sorry, cool, no, that’s just…. Sorry.”

“Whatever, just put a fuckin shirt on.”

He grabbed the flannel and a clean pair of pants. “This?”

She just threw up her hands. “Seems fine, I guess? Can I tell you a thing, Magnus?”

“Hit me.”

“That day, you know? I was right behind you when you went charging into the dome, back from the fucking dead with that goofy-ass sword?”

“Yeah, I remember.”

She frowned a little, sighed, and looked at the clothes in the wardrobe.

“The Director, Lucretia — sorry, I still can’t even call her that in my head, it’s totally weird — the look in her eyes, the way she started smiling when you busted in there…. I’m pretty sure it does not even matter what you wear. That’s all I’mma say.”

* * *

 

He’s got his bag in one hand and a paper bag of donuts in the other. He’s facing the door, and it’s not like he hasn’t visited before, but it’s the first time by himself since Carey and Killian’s wedding, since he talked to...Mom, he can call Lucretia _Mom_ now. He squares his shoulders and sighs when he gets to the door, out of the corner of his eye, he sees Carey give an encouraging nod.

The door isn’t locked.

“Hi sir,” he shouts up the stairs. The house is quiet, until Johann runs up and starts barking at him. “I mean Dad, I’m home!”

He lets the dog jump up and lick him on the face. Magnus — Dad — has said before not to let Johann do that, but he’s still a little startled and the dog is very friendly. He grins at Carey, and she winks.

“Looks like pops overslept. Poor Johann needs a walk; maybe you can take him out…..”

She glances up the stairs, her dragon tongue sniffing the air. He looks into the front room, sees a splash of blue over the sofa back, but Magnus is coming down the stairs, looking even more rumpled than usual, his hair standing up in all directions. He and Carey exchange a look, one that they don’t think Angus can see, but he’s twelve, he’s not _dumb_.

Without a word, Carey takes the bag of donuts and leads Magnus into the kitchen, leaving Angus to catch fragments of conversation: “called it” “that’s great” “high five, spaceman” “thanks?” “if you need” “hold down the fort” “hot mama needs an exit” “could you not”

Magnus comes back out of the kitchen without Carey and grabs Johann’s leash off of a hook by the door.

“Let’s take Johann for his walk!” Magnus says with a bit of forced brightness as he again tries to smooth down his hair. Angus just follows, not yet sure of himself. They walk in almost-companionable silence, not quite looking at each other, until Angus finally asks the question that’s been worrying at him for days.

“Is it okay, if I call you that, if I call you Dad, sir?”

He chuckles. “As long as you stop calling me sir.”

“What about Mr. Taako?”

Magnus looks very deliberately at the dog and not at him. There's a faint clench to his jaw. “What about Taako?”

“Do you think he’ll mind if I call you Dad?”

Magnus shrugs.

“He's still very angry with her, isn't he?”

Magnus makes a noncommittal noise.

“Are _you_ angry with her?” He glances up at Magnus. “Because of me?”

There's something unreadable in his expression for a moment, and then a fond smile. He's never seen that look before. Angus can’t tell if it’s for him, for Lucretia, or maybe something else entirely.

“No. No no no no no.” His laugh is open, relieved. He grabs Angus around the shoulders in a sideways hug. “Shit, I’m just mad at myself for being such a dick when we found you on that train. And Luce….” Again that smile, and his eyes almost twinkle. Angus files that information away for future reference. “I forgave her.” He shrugs, again. “That’s what it means, right?”

He sighs and wrinkles his nose.

Again he asks, “But Mr. Taako?”

“Don’t you worry about Taako,” Magnus says, a bit of iron in his voice now. “Besides, you’re his magic boy. He’s not going to cut off his nose to spite — well, okay, he might do that, but not to you. Lup would kick his ass, yeah?” And he mimes the stance that she gets when she’s about to throw off a fireball, which Angus can’t help but laugh at. “Don’t worry, kid, I’ve got you. We’ve all got you.”

When they get back to the house, Johann having been thoroughly walked out, Magnus pauses at the door for half a beat, even though it’s his house.

“I know she was there, sir, um, Dad, you know, when I got there?”

He laughs, covering his mouth with his hand. Then he hands Johann’s leash to Angus as he opens the door. Carey and Lucretia are sitting together, eating donuts and drinking tea, and Carey is telling some story that involves a lot of gesturing with her hands. Lucretia is laughing, that low dry chuckle of appreciation for her friends’ shenanigans.

She looks to the door, and for half a second there's a flicker of apprehension, a faint frown as she looks to Magnus. But then she smiles and it's radiant, the smile of the younger woman he saw in the voidfish’s visions, in the portrait in her office. She stands and he runs forward into a hug.

“Hi, Mom.”

“Hello, dear.”

He lets out a breath he's been holding for too long. She sits, and he sits beside her, curled up against her, which is maybe something a little kid would do, but Carey doesn't seem to notice as she jumps right back into her story, and Magnus smiles.

* * *

 

“Me and Jules talked about kids,” said Magnus, looking down at the potatoes as he chopped them. “We waited to get married until after the revolution, and then….” He set down the knife with a sigh. “And then I didn't think there'd be anyone.”

“You and the boss never talked about it, before?” Carey took the potatoes out from under him and put them into the dutch oven. Without either of them talking about it, she’d stuck around to help him out with dinner.

“I think once, early on?” He grabbed some carrots out of the cooler. “Like, _what are we gonna do when this is all over_? You know, we had no idea how long we were going to be doing that. Or if we'd tried, what would have happened….” He shuddered.

“Yeah, that's rough. Turned out pretty good though, yeah?”

“I've been lucky. Luckier than I deserve, maybe.” The carrots diced up into little rounds under his hands. “Grab me a couple of cloves of garlic?” She tossed them at him when he paused chopping. “I learned how to cook twice.” He slid the carrots on top of the potatoes, then smashed the garlic with the flat of the knife. “Steven was a great cook. Not fancy, like--” he waved the knife in a flourish “but I always ate well in that house, and he taught me everything he knew.” He took out the chicken and stuffed the garlic into the cavity, then sprinkled it with a big pinch of salt. Carey nodded thoughtfully. “And now I know that if I had a lemon I should slice it thin and slip the slices under the skin. Because that's what Taako would've done.” He shrugged, then went to wash his hands and reached for kitchen shears. “But this time of year, in Ravens Roost, what I want is some sage fresh from the garden. It's like that, yknow?”

“I guess.”

“Angus, the world's greatest detective, what did I ever do to deserve that? That's _my_ kid?”

It was Carey’s turn to shrug. “Who deserves anything, really? And you'd gotten attached to boy wonder even if-- Look at Taako, yeah? He would die for that kid. Even Merle likes him, everybody likes Angus. He's a good kid. And now he’s got, what, like twenty parents? Don’t worry, bud, it’s cool.”

* * *

 

After Carey and Lucretia leave -- _we have work to do, dear_ \-- Magnus takes him to the kennel and introduces him to all the trainers and all of the dogs. Magnus is so proud showing him around: _everybody you guys need to meet Angus McDonald, the world’s greatest detective and the best little dude from the BoB, plus he’s fucking good at magic_. Then they eat lunch, something with meat on a stick from a little cart in one of the rebuilt squares. It's hot and savory and messy and Angus loves every bite. Magnus winks as he wipes his hands on his pants after eating.

After lunch they spar in the backyard, Magnus teaching him fighting techniques like he used to do on the moon, but now there's a dog running circles around them. It's hard work, but he's getting better, and he's a little bigger than the last time they practiced.

He lays on the grass on his back, after, watching clouds drift by. Magnus sits beside him, Johann’s head in his lap.

“What was your grandpa like?” he asks, his tone light, but his body just a bit tense. Johann whines.

Angus looks at a big cloud unraveling in the wind.

“Kind,” he says finally. “Strict? But not mean.”

“Strict? We found you on a train by yourself.”

“I was a good detective!”

“The best.”

“He wanted me to do good. To push myself.” His face scrunches up, definitely because of the sun in his eyes and not because he's remembering and missing Grandpa McDonald. Who maybe wasn't his grandfather, but who was always there for him. “I wish I knew how much he knew.”

“You should ask Luce, I bet she'd tell you the whole story now.”

He hums.

“Are _you_ mad?” asks Magnus.

“No, sir, I mean Dad. This is still weird. I don't know how I feel?”

Magnus lets out a soft little laugh and ruffles his hair.

“Cool, cool, yeah I know. Take it all at your own pace, Dango.”

The dog shifts and lays against Angus, his head a steady pressure on Angus’ chest.

“Thanks Dad.”


End file.
